Thursday, September 12, 2013

Taking Away the Rose-colored Glasses

Irma Omerhodzic
io255709@ohio.edu

Journalism stands for something much more honorable and important than a mere daily dose of gossip. We are living in an exciting time. Our world is changing and a revolution of massive proportion is happening around our world. Journalists today have a moral obligation to the masses, who for the most part are seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. It is time to awaken humanity. Without a personal ethical compass a journalist is just left a gossiper.


www.saltyrunning.com/2012/07/31/find-your-flow-a-runners-guide-to-positive-thinking/large-rose-colored-glasses-on-beach/

"MEDIA SHIFT Your Guide to the Digital Media Revolution" is a website every journalist should follow as closely as their Instagram. The digital media revolution is a gateway to awakening humanity. Our code of ethics is the fuel for revolution, without it we have nothing.

The following articles are published on MEDIASHIFT and are must reads:

Written by Kathleen Bartzen Culver ,"Syrian Citizen Journalists Set Ethical Example Focused on Dignity, Truth," inspires journalists not by telling us what the right thing is but by showing how these Syrian citizens came together to kick-start change. "Because the regime used misinformation and fabrication, [citizen journalists] wanted to emphasize a revolutionary journalism focused on accuracy, context and credibility." This is what we need in the United States -- passion for action. It is time to set our glasses aside and see the world for what it is. 

The next article, written by Geoffrey King, "Why the NSA Hack Compromises Al Jazeera Sources, U.S. Credibility" continues to probe at unwanted secrecy in the government.  The government has turned the "watchdog" position around on the people. "The New York Times, quoting newly disclosed documents, reported Friday the NSA is 'winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy of every day communications in the Internet age.'" Invading privacy is stripping dignity away from people; it is the journalist's duty to give people their dignity back by slowly unveiling the truth and exposing corruption.

"Why We Need Radical Change for Media Ethics, Not a Return to Basics," an article written by Stephan Ward, explains as media changes rapidly, ethics changes. "When it comes to ethics, we become conservative, even if we are progressives in our teaching and practice," said Ward. 

The following two points explain Ward's idea of ethics in the near future.

  • Ethics of interpretation and opinion: The era of news objectivity as “just the facts” is dying. Interpretive and advocational journalism grows. Ethicists need to fill this gap by distinguishing between better and worse interpretations. They need to provide a specific meaning to such key concepts as “informed commentary,” “insightful analysis” and “good interpretation.”
  •  Ethics of activism: Activist journalism will also proliferate. But when are activist journalists not propagandists? When are journalists partisan political voices and when are they journalists with a valid cause? Rather than simply dismiss activist journalism on the traditional ground of objectivity, how can we develop a more nuanced understanding of this area of journalism?

Interpretation, opinion and activism all point to the idea that we are no longer just here to report facts and leave people to fend for themselves, but we are here to serve, guide and protect.


 
video:
The Journalism Revolution: Tim Pool (Future of StoryTelling 2013) http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/09/video-how-tim-pool-created-phone-and-drone-journalism/

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